Joe Biden on Corporations

Democratic Sr Senator (DE); nominee for Vice President

We've yielded to corporate America on trade

Q: Given the WTO guidelines, could you actually restrict trade with China?

A: With the WTO guidelines, we could stop these [unsafe] products coming in now. This president doesn't act. We have much more leverage on China than they have on us. The
idea that a country with 800 million people in poverty has greater leverage over us is preposterous. We've yielded to corporate America. We've yielded to this president's notion of what constitutes trade, and we've refused to enforce the laws that exist.

Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Democratic debate
Dec 13, 2007

OpEd: beholden to corporations because so many based in DE

Like all mainstream candidates, Biden is beholden to corporate interests who support his campaigns or dominate his state; in Biden's case, he cast a noteworthy vote in favor of the controversial
2005 bankruptcy bill, which was a boon to credit card lenders, many of which are based in Delaware due to lax state regulations. Biden's biggest single bloc of support is trial lawyers, who like his strong position against tort reform.

Source: The Contenders, by Laura Flanders, p.180
Nov 11, 2007

Take burden off corporations so jobs stay in US

Q: A lot of Americans are concerned with outsourcing of US jobs. What's your solution?

CLINTON: Well, outsourcing is a problem. We have to end the tax breaks that still exist in the tax code for outsourcing jobs.

BIDEN:
Eliminating the tax breaks is not going to keep jobs here in America. We've got to make it more attractive to have jobs here in America and for corporations to be here.
You've got to take the burden off the corporations with a health care system that's universal, so we're not at a competitive disadvantage. You've got to have a better education system to provide for the highest-tech jobs that we educate our folks for,
so we're not importing 400,000 computer engineers to work in Silicon Valley. And you've got to deal with the innovation and infrastructure needs in this country--tunnels, bridges, etc.--which we haven't done to make us more competitive.

Voted YES on reforming bankruptcy to include means-testing & restrictions.

Amends Federal bankruptcy law to revamp guidelines governing dismissal or conversion of a Chapter 7 liquidation (complete relief in bankruptcy) to one under either Chapter 11 (Reorganization) or Chapter 13 (Adjustment of Debts of an Individual with Regular Income). Voting YES would:

Declare a debtor eligible only for Chapter 13, as anyone financially capable of paying back their creditors at a rate that still allows them to earn above their state's median income

Place domestic support obligations such as child support and alimony amongst the first priority claim category of non-dischargeable debts on a debtor filing for bankruptcy

Require debtors to pay for and attend credit counseling prior to filing for bankruptcy

Cap home equity protection at $125,000 if the debtor purchased a house within 40 months of filing for bankruptcy.

Voted YES on restricting rules on personal bankruptcy.

Vote to pass a bill that would require debtors able to repay $10,000 or 25 percent of their debts over five years to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy (reorganization and repayment) rather than Chapter 7 (full discharge of debt).

Whether you own a business, represent one, lead a corporate office, or manage an association, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of AmericaSM provides you with a voice of experience and influence in Washington, D.C., and around the globe.

Our members include businesses of all sizes and sectors—from large Fortune 500 companies to home-based, one-person operations. In fact, 96% of our membership encompasses businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

Mission Statement:

"To advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility."

The ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.